Myth of Remnant
by A F2P FGO player
Summary: Heroic Spirits has been a close existence to the people of Remnant. Since the departure of Two Brothers, Remnant has prospered under their protection. Yet with world ending calamity in the horizon, new band of heroes need to be gathered once more.
1. The Myth and The Prophecy

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate Series. They belong to their respective owners which are Rooster Teeth and Type-Moon if I'm not mistaken. I don't own anything, except a laptop and a NA FGO account.

* * *

**Prologue**

This lore had been passed down from generation to generation.

Two Gods, the God of Darkness and the God of Light created the world. The Brothers created the land, the sea, and the sky. They placed the sun to illuminate the day and the moon to illuminate the night. The God of Light pushed his power into the land, giving lives to plants and animal alike. The God of Darkness created Grimm in turn, an act meant to balance the scale of life and death. Human being became their next creation. Together they molded a unique being that continuously tether between good and evil.

Centuries passed by, and the world prospered. Kingdom rose and culture spread. Tales of bravery of human against the force of evil flourished. Until one day, it all stopped. A woman filled with grief over her lover's death pleaded the Gods to give her beloved a chance to live once more, only to be refused. The woman then raised armies against the Gods, angered by the Gods' response. Disappointed by the human rebellion, the Gods departed from the world, leaving behind a monstrosity, The Beast, to clean the world of the old human and to prepare the land for a new creation.

The Beast sprouted 72 great Demon from its bodies. Demons filled the land, the sea and the sky. They towered over the mountain like a great pillar. No army, no hero managed to halt the Beast nor the demon advance. It continued to fill the world with deaths and horror.

As humanity was about to breathed its last, an oracle appeared.

"_Oh brave one cometh forward, we shalt bestow thee the power to square backeth against the dark. Thy believeth shalt fuel us and our legends shalt strengthened thee. Speaketh thy holidam. Thee shalt becometh every valorous in the world of the death. Thee shalt did lie out all evil in the world of the death. And thus we shalt giveth thee blade to dare thy fate!"_

In response to the oracle, eight heroes banded together and performed the ritual. They made a pact to the spirit of legend, spirit from another world, another history. They each swore an oath to the spirit and in return, the spirit granted them strength bordering the realm of legend.

The Saint of the White Flag

The King of Knights

The Divine Ancestor

The Lone Meteor

The Sun Incarnate

The Old Man of the Mountain

The Mage of Flowers

The Hegemon of Vast Plains

These Heroic Spirit granted strength to the heroes of old to counter the Beast. After a long and grueling fight, the heroes managed to vanquish the beast, sealing it forever inside a deep abyss.

From that moment on, humanity begun a new page to their history. Those with deeds worthy of legends crossed into our world, forging contract with those they deem worthy. They are our guardian, our savior, our Patron, the Heroic Spirits. They brought with them gift of knowledge, power, and prosperity to us, their Protégé. And with the Protégé at the lead, Remnant welcomed a new era of Peace and Prosperity.

###

"The end." With the story over, Juniper Arc closed the book and smiled to her children. She took a glance at each of them to gauge their reaction. Rose, the second daughter, was looking quite bored and already half asleep, judging from the way she is swaying back and forth. Well, to be expected really. Rose has past the normal age for hearing bedtime story and she has listened to this story probably around a hundred times before.

Juniper turned her attention to the other three instead.

Jaune, Verte and Sapphire returned her glance with a look filled with joy, excitement, and impatience bundled into one.

"Mommy can you tell us another story?" Jaune, the oldest between the three, spoke first. He was the one most taken by her story. Currently eight years old, it was to be expected that her little boy would be excited hearing the story about heroes.

"Hmm, I don't know Jaune. I already promise Daddy that you will all turn in soon so that you can practice your magecraft tomorrow morning." She let out a fake yawn and closed her eyes, pretending to fall asleep. "Mommy is really sleepy too. Can you wait until tomorrow?"

"Mommy please, I promise that I will sleep after this one! Promise!"

"Yeah mommy! Tell us another one."

"Please, Please, Please!"

"Mommy is pretty tired. Oh how mommy wish that someone will give mommy a big hug to wake her up."

All three of them scrambled toward her in an instant, almost tackling her to the ground. Even Rose who seemed to want nothing more than to go back to her own room joined in on the chaotic group hug, enveloping the small statured Vert in the process.

Juniper let out a giggle at her children antics. They are so precious when they are this young.

"Alright! Mommy is all charged up and ready to go!" The three young ones let out a loud squeal while Rose futilely tried to hush them. "Okay what story should it be next?"

"Argonaut! No wait, Heracles! Tell me about Heracles mommy!"

"I want to hear King Arthur tales!"

"How about something short like how Edison discover electricity?"

"Booo! Rosie's pick sucks!" "I don't want to hear boring things!"

"Alright, alright no fighting girls." Juniper interfere before her daughter resorted to name calling, or worse, crying. She then looked at her only son who is visibly raking his brain for the story that he wanted to hear the most. "How about you Jaune? Whose tale do you want to hear?"

Jaune visibly surprised by her attention on him, began to murmur names after names, heroes after heroes. Juniper patiently waited for him to answer clearly, until finally Jaune decided on one particular hero.

"Uhm… Mommy, can you tell us about The Saint of the White Flag? About Jeanne d' Arc?"

The Saint was a famous hero, one of the original to cross into their world. She was idolized by the people of their family who had long adopted her way of life. Juniper can confidently state that the Arc family was the most French-like Christian people on the face of Remnant.

"Oh Jaune, are you sure? Haven't you heard about our family Patron over and over again from daddy and grandpa Arc?"

"Yes, I mean, I like Jeanne, She's so cool and our names are similar! I want to be her Protégé when I'm older, mommy"

Juniper can feel her face stiffen hearing those words. It was a childish declaration but hearing Jaune said it… Knowing that your son dream was unreachable, knowing that if other people hear him they would only pity or jeer at him, knowing that her blood was the cause of it, Juniper can feel an invisible weight settling down her stomach.

"Mommy? Are you okay?"

"Oh! Sorry dear, mommy was preparing the story so it will come out well. You don't want Jeanne journey to get paused halfway, do you?" The children shook their head from side to side. Sapphire even covered her mouth, trying her best not to make noises.

"Okay, in another world long, long ago-"

###

Jeanne d' Arc, Maiden of Orleans, La Pucelle, Saint of the White Flag, she was one of the original eight heroic spirits that make contract with humanity. Her first Protégé named his family after her own family name, Arc.

Arc family would later become a noble house boasting powerful Patron, none other than Jeanne d' Arc herself. Generation after generation, one of their member would always be chosen by the saint as her Protégé. Her Protégé would then be chosen as the Head of the family, leading their family to glory surpassing the previous generation.

But as all things come to an end, the same goes for Arc family glory. In one instant, Arc family would turn from a noble houses into the house of failures, abandoned by their Patron. During the Great War, 85 years ago, Marcus Arc led the counter invasion against Mistral. Filled with rage at the death of his loved ones, he razed tens of settlement in Solitas, leaving a mountain of corpse at his trail. Only stopping when faced with the King of Mistral, the Protégé of the Great Hero Heracles.

Disgusted by her Protégé atrocities, The Saint never granted her blessing to the family again. For four generation following the Great War, not one Protégé appeared in Arc family. Their family was cursed, none of the Heroic Spirit ever deign them worthy. No matter how many talented children are born, no matter how they plead forgiveness to the Saint, no matter what they sacrifice, the situation did not change at all.

"So imagine my surprise when I saw it, Glynda" the current Protégé of the Mage of Flower, the supervisor of the Avalon Tower showed his deputy a pleasant smile. "I see that the Saint finally relented and give the Arc a chance to right their wrong. Oh, or perhaps she come back knowing that their family have right their wrong?"

"A vision from your [Clairvoyance]?" The deputy raised her eyebrow in curiosity.

[Clairvoyance C+], the headmaster personal skill, is a privilege given to one who contract The Mage of Flower. Glynda knew that the vision come at random and the headmaster himself has no control over what vision it will be. Sometimes the vision showed something easy to interpret, but most times it only showed a bunch of nonsense. This instance seemed to be the former one however.

"Yes, I saw a man with the Arc emblem walking through the dark, the [Crest] pulsing red on his hand, a flag waving in the distance." Ozpin fiddled with his Scroll, scrolling down a list that shows a number of names. It was the Arc Family register, most likely. "A man from the Arc family will make a contract with the Saint. It was an easy interpretation. A rare instance when my vision are obvious about its meaning."

Glynda could understand the headmaster eagerness. The Saint of the White Flag would be a great addition to humanity. Not only was she a powerful Patron, but her forgiveness for the Arc folly would mean that her assistance to be assured for years to come.

"Do you want to make contact with the Arc, Ozpin? To deliver the good news?"

"What would that accomplish, Glynda?" The headmaster let out a chuckle before putting down his Scroll. He already gave up on this endeavor. Locating the potential Protégé from the large number of Arc man is near impossible effort.

Firstly, he cannot make the visage of the man in his vision. Secondly, he does not know when exactly in the future the vision take place in. The man in his vision might not be born yet, for all he knows. Not only that, the Arc family effort to raise the chance of a Protégé appearing included giving birth to as many children as possible. In the last 80 years, not one of them has less than five children per family. Locating a single man out with those condition? Not a chance.

"As usual, the only thing that we can do is to watch out for the future." He looked out to the window, watching the Protégé training below from the inside of his tower. "With the [Advent] coming we will need every help that we could get Glynda."

Yes, the Advent. The calamity. The Evil of Humanity. The nightmare from centuries past will walk the land once more. The vision he had as one burdened with the memories of his predecessor from a time long long ago.

To protect the human order, Heroes need to be gathered once more.

* * *

_Author Notes_

_This is my first story, a quite ambitious crossover between RWBY and Fate Series. Details will be explained at later chapter, but to make it clear:_

_All Character except the heroic spirit will be from RWBY_

_The term Servant and Master are replaced with Patron for Servant and Protege for Master. The Protege will gain power according to their Patron, in simpler term: it will be a Class Card fiasco for all the character._

_Yes, I accept any input for the story including ideas for Patron and Protege pair. If you do have an input to give, please comment by all means. You don't have to, but I will really appreciate it if you also give a good reason for it. If I do implement your idea for the pair, i will make sure to credit you for it._

_Lastly, I am well aware that both my English and writing skill need to be polished. I am Indonesian, so please go easy on me._

_With that said, Thank you for reading this story, I hope that it will be a fun ride from here on out. See you._


	2. Daily life of an Arc

_Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own RWBY or Fate Series. They belong to their respective owners which are Rooster Teeth and Type-Moon if I'm not mistaken. I don't own anything, except a laptop and a NA FGO account._

_By the way how many times do I have to use this disclaimer? Please comment._

* * *

Domrémy was a town located north of Sanus. Named after the birthplace of the Saint, the frontier town was built more than two hundred years ago by the Arc family. The King of Vale at that time, recognizing the population boom in the Kingdom, had hand down the policy of pioneering lands to create suitable settlements. Most of this settlements, particularly the one located far from the Capital of Vale, had fallen to the Grimm and Bandits, or even in rarer case, a [Phantom Spirit]

Protected by the Arc family Protégé from the time of its conception along with layers of bounded field and high wall surrounding the town, Domrémy had been one of the few that managed to survive the test of time and survive to the present. The town itself had been caught up in conflict a few times before, the major one being the siege battle following the invasion of Mistral during the Great War. Having gone through rebuilding and renovation afterwards, the town had lost most of its historical building with only a few exception. The large church at the heart of the town was one such exception.

The church was the largest and oldest building in the town. Built in the style close to the old French gothic architecture, the church wall was decorated with scriptures and stained glass depicting biblical figures and events. Large rose windows was built into the upper wall at the western and eastern end of the church, enabling sunlight to pass through and bathing the interior with their luster.

Jaune liked the place. The interior had been kept clean and the ventilation was good. The Father and the sisters was also nice to him. They didn't treat him differently and as long as he asked politely they were always willing to teach him new stuff. Not only that, as long as he was praying, none of the neighborhood bullies would bother him, being a Christian themselves and thus fearing the consequences of causing trouble inside the church.

He loved this place. Too bad that he couldn't stay here forever.

"Father in heaven, thank you for letting me in this sanctuary you build. Now that I am going out, please give me strength to face my adversaries. Do not let those evil ambush me from the alley near my house. Grant them a charitable and kind heart since for some reason You had sent them here without one. I beseech you Lord. In the name of the Father and of the Son and Holy Spirit. Amen"

Finishing his honest prayer filled with questionable content, He made a cross and bowed to the altar. Adjusting his breathing and loosening his muscles, he readied himself.

Jaune Arc, 12 Years old, walked through the aisles of the church. He double checked the shortest route to his house inside his head, all the while pumping his Od to reinforce his body. He would not be caught unaware again. They would not push him to the river, fling him with water balloon, or ambush him and steal his pants. Yes, a boy sneaking around town in his brief would humiliatingly be a part of this town epic for years to come.

As soon as he exited the church, he quickly moved away to the crowded main street. A lesson that he got when he thought that going through the less populated alley would be a safe route. The bullies had cornered him when he had gone far enough from the main street. He had also learnt the feeling of being a shuttlecock that day, as he had been pushed around by half dozen kid with a dozen way made possible by their magecraft. Since then, he never quite enjoyed the sport anymore.

He managed to get halfway from the main street when he noticed three kids standing in front of a greengrocer.

'_Spies_' Jaune thought. There were no kids that would be interested in hanging around the vile greeneries. He forced his self to consume it, only because no Heroic Spirit would be invested in picky eater and food waster. Thankfully, dad told him that fact before he threw his green pepper away. So many people failed to be a Protégé because of that apparently, and he didn't want to be another addition to that. His dad was wise indeed.

With no other choice, Jaune made way to the alleyway to avoid his would be attacker. He crouched low and stay to the shadow, keeping watch for potential ambush point. Satisfied that he saw nothing suspicious, he planned his next move.

"It's alright Jaune, it's alright. You will get through this." He kept repeating the mantra to calm himself. He took a deep breath and steady his stance. Uneven breathing and posture would weaken his control and lessen the overall effect of his reinforcement. That wouldn't be good at all. It would be the same as losing before he could fight the good fight.

He took another deep breath and think over his choice.

If he went down the alleyway, he risked the chance of another ambush, but if he forced his way through the main street, he would most likely be chased and got lead to another _even bigger_ ambush. Either choice would lead to another beat down.

The safest choice would be to admit defeat and waited until all of them gave up, most likely when nightfall, but Jaune couldn't expect to wait. Mom and Dad would be worried sick. He would cause trouble for them. That was the only thing that he didn't want to do no matter what.

So what could he do?

"Coo! Coo!"

"Huh?" Jaune looked up in time and saw flock of doves perching on top of the building just above him. Gear slowly turning in his mind, he looked at the narrow alleyway and slowly moved his gaze upwards. Yep, that might work.

Ninja jump, assassin jump or whatever it was called has been a thing in video games from time immemorial. Jaune had also watched some teen did it in a video from the web. '_It's doable_' he decided, and if it was not, a bit of magecraft might just make the difference. Even if he did fail, he would probably fall when he was still in fairly low position anyway. Mind set on what he was supposed to do, he let the reinforcement work their magic and brace himself.

The first jump toward the alley wall beside him went well, right after that he immediately kicked off to the wall across him. Setting his kick off angle wrong, he barely moved upwards from the previous position. Not realizing that, Jaune simply kept moving across the wall and with sheer perseverance managed to reach just before the rooftop.

"Yes! I am awesome!" He cheered and made one last kick to launch himself across.

Yet as history had proven over and over again, pride came before the fall and the young Arc would learn that he was not exempt from this rule.

"Bogyah-!" Jaune let out a cry as his chin hit the unmovable object that is the rooftop edge. He could feel his self almost blacking out from the shock. It felt as if he was in the receiving end of an uppercut performed by a moderately successful boxer.

Luckily enough, his reinforcement hold out and Jaune was in time to reach out his hand and hanged on the rooftop. If not for his reinforcement he would instantly pass out and fell to the ground below. Shaking stars in his vision, he pulled his weight up and semi thrown his self onto the rooftop.

Breathing heavily, the young Arc ignored the pain on his jaw and looked down toward the main street. There were no change to the three spies. They hadn't realized that he had already escape from their grasp.

Pushing down the urge to spit on them for a well-deserved payback, he turned around instead and looked to the distance.

Jaune could feel his lips formed into a large grin.

That was a thing. He actually did that! He ninja jumped! Awesome!

From now on every time he see Vert playing video games about that assassin guy and every time Rose try to debunk it, he could proudly say, "What? I remember doing that before sis. It's no sweat."

At that moment Jaune felt like he was on top of the world. The rooftop could be another safe place for him to hide from the bullies. He could also use it as a chance to practice his reinforcement by jumping across the building. It would be really cool!

* * *

The building in the main street had similar height and there were only small gap between them. Jaune jumped across the building with confidence. After that whole stunt he pulled, covering the short distance between buildings didn't seem that hard anymore.

He still kept his bullies in mind and made note to watch out for them. Once or twice he could make up the familiar figure of his daily harasser from the crowd down below. Well too bad. Today he would come home safely and bragged to his younger sister about all this. Jaune one and bullies… well not zero, but Jaune reasoned that since today is a new page of his life he could make a new scoreboard.

"There you are Arc!"

As Jaune jumped across another building, a sudden yell stopped him on his track. He quickly crouched down and hid his self behind the rooftop edge.

'Oh snap did they found me!?' He shivered and looked around, expecting his bullies to appear behind him with rope and hang him from the building. After a moment pass with no change, Jaune let out a small huff.

"Alright, I'm okay. No one is chasing me. Everything's all right." He continued his monologue for a while before poking his head out from his cover. As far as his sight goes, he couldn't make out any figure on the rooftop. That meant the yell must have come from below, right?

He looked down toward the dark alleyway. There he could make out about five figures. All of them were girls close in age to him, maybe just one or two years younger or older. Among them, two were being surrounded and cornered toward the back alley.

The two being cornered had the same golden blonde hair as him. One of them was braided and the other one had bob haircut with glasses.

"Stay away from us! Leave us alone! We haven't done anything to you!" The one with the bob haircut yelled to the people closing on her all the while covering for the braided haired girl who seemed to be on the verge of crying.

Jaune knew them. Of course he did. The bob haired one is Sapphire the fifth daughter while the braided one is Anil, the second youngest after Violet. Both of them were his younger sister. The yell from before must have been addressing them instead of him.

The girls sneered at Sapphire's response and closed in on them.

"It's all your fault Arc! I only have a year to go before I am unqualified to be a protégé! This is because you Arc spread your curse to us!"

"All of us here would have contracted a Heroic Spirit, if it's not for your ancestor!"

"That's right! Everything is your guys fault!"

This was a familiar scene for Jaune. He never picked a fight against anyone. He always tried to make friend, and he had had friends during his early days in elementary school. So how could he be bullied? What reason was there to bully him?

Look and behold, this was the reason.

[Heroic Spirit] were heroes with deeds so great it managed to etch them to the world history. Their power was head and shoulder above what mortal could reach with hard work and talent. But since the day they first manifest in Remnant eons ago, once in a blue moon they would grant rare individuals the privilege to use a fragment of their power. These people who managed to be chosen by the Heroic Spirits were called [Protégé], while the Heroic Spirit that grant them power were addressed as [Patron].

When one become a Protégé, their Patron would leave a mark on their body, a [Crest] as prove of their contract. The shape of the Crest would depend on the Patron involved, while the location will be anywhere on their Protégé body.

It's impossible to fake or hide the crest. Real Crest would never disappear except on the death of the Protégé. If one tried to skin the Crest or separate it from the Protégé body, the Crest would just appear on a different part of their body. Trying to fake a Crest by tattoo was also impossible. Those with a real Crest emitted a different atmosphere than those with fake one. The people of Remnant had been exposed to the Protégé pressure for so long that they could tell if one has a real Crest by instinct.

Once you became a Protégé you would be set for life. Little by little the Protégé would adapted to their Patron and they would be able to emulate the skill and the abilities of the Patron. Your run of the mile Grimm wouldn't be a danger to you anymore at that point. Kingdom would also grant them privilege after privilege to keep them loyal to the kingdom.

So what should one do to become a Protégé? No one knew for sure.

Some said that you needed to train your body and mind. Some said that you needed to have similar personalities to the Heroic Spirits. Some said that you needed to accomplish a truly great deed that the Heroic Spirit would take notice of it.

All of those notion got rejected as soon as a baby was born with a crest on their body.

Heroic Spirit will forge contract to anyone they want seemingly without any rhyme or reason. That was the only conclusion that could be taken.

There were also other thing that we learnt after observing the Protégé all this time.

First, one needed to properly contract the Heroic Spirit to receive their power. An established contract would be signified by the Crest turning red. If the Crest was still black then that means the Protégé hadn't finished their contract with the Patron.

Second, the number of Protégé was exceedingly few. From 3 billion of remnant population, probably only around a thousand of them were Protégé. Which meant that a person chance to become a Protégé was one in three million.

Third, and probably the most important for the bullies below was the age restriction. There had been no case of a Heroic Spirit forging a contract with those above twelve years old.

Once you had reach thirteen, your chance to become a Protégé became zero.

Jaune remembered Saphron's and Rose's 13th birthday like it just happened yesterday. Saphron, his eldest sister, had been crying and keep muttering apologies to their parents. Rose, his stoic sister on the other hand, kept staring at the back of her hand before absentmindedly blowing her birthday candle, ignoring well wishes given by him and their family.

Except for the Protégé and unusual people, 13th birthday was the day that you fear the most. It would be the day when you had to let go of your childhood dreams and faced the reality of life. Not everyone was a winner. Not everyone was a main character.

This fact caused pressure on those nearing their thirteen. With the expectation of their surrounding coupled with their very own wish to be proven special, those below thirteen years old experienced a huge amount of stress contrary to their young age.

Every children had different method to face their stress. Some pushed themselves harder on their training. Some challenged difficult obstacle. Some tried to emulate the Heroic Spirit they want. But a large number of them do the same thing, vented their stress on others.

Arc family history being what it was, the Arc children became the most excellent target to vent their stress on. Jaune could still hear the justification they make as they torment him.

'_The Saint of the White Flag cursed the Arc families for their mistake'_

'_None of them was accepted as Protégé.'_

'_Could it be that the reason why we aren't chosen is because of them?'_

'_It's because we let them stay in this town'_

'_Our failure is their fault.'_

"Just let us go, please!" Anil's cry pulled Jaune out of his thoughts. The girls was jeering and laughing at Anil's cries. Sapphire moved to cover her sister but she was pushed back by the bullies.

Jaune gritted his teeth in irritation. He never fought back against his bullies because he understood their pain. He also experienced the same thing as them. Once their 13th birthday passed, everything would be back to normal. Just like how Saphron and Rose managed to make friends again. He would become friend with the bullies again. They would apologize, laugh it all up and treated it as water under the bridge.

Jaune learned another lesson. The last lesson he would get today.

Enduring being bullied was one thing.

Enduring watching his little sister being bullied was a completely different one.

He took the stance he had practiced every day and aimed at the bullies head.

* * *

Sapphire was at her wits end. These girls in front of her were people from school, mostly the upperclassman. This wasn't the first time she become the target of this kind of harassment. They were mostly prank, stuff like launching spit ball behind her head, changing the lock on her locker or erasing the notes in her book.

Being a daughter of Arc family meant that you would experience that from time to time. Saphron, Rose, Jaune and Verte, her older siblings, probably experienced the same thing as well. Yet not one of them ever complained or showed any sign of it to their parents, so she will do the same. She wouldn't lose against people like them. But Anil..,

Anil was a different story however.

Anil was the most kind and charming among the sisters. She was also the most sheltered and timid. Having been home schooled until half a year ago because of her weak body, Anil never had many chance to interact with people outside the family.

Sapphire didn't want to imagine how her frail little sister would react from this treatment. If Anil ended up telling their parents about this, every effort that her older siblings had put in enduring this treatment would become useless. Mom and Dad wouldn't be able to forgive their self for letting their children experienced this painful moments.

"Just let us go, please!" suddenly Anil cry came from behind Sapphire.

"Do you hear that? Leeet us gooo please" the girl in the front, most likely the leader of this little gang, repeated Anil's line with a mocking tone. She faked a cry, showing an exaggerated sobbing motion. The other laughed and started doing impression on their own.

"Hey quit it! This has gone too far!" Sapphire stepped forward to shield Anil, hiding her from the view.

"Don't act so cocky Arc!"

"Yeah! Don't try to order us around, trash!"

The girls glared at Sapphire and started to shove her aside. She tried to stand her ground, even reinforcing herself, but it was difficult. The girls in front of them were upperclassmen. They were more experienced in thaumaturgy including reinforcement, not to mention that it was 3 on 1.

"Kyah!" Sapphire finally lost her balance and fall to the side, leaving Anil open to their tormentor. This turned out to be the last straw for Anil's tolerance to snap. She opened up her palm and aimed it towards the girl that pushed Sapphire down.

"Hands off my big sister!" Anil right hand had already started to glow, a telltale sign that she was trying to activate a thaumaturgy.

'_Shit'_ Sapphire cursed on her mind. Letting Anil launch her spell would not only agitate these people but also brought the proper authorities down on them. Not to mention that would mean Anil was the one to make the first blow. Arc family's name would be dragged through the mud by the rumor mill and eventually the mass media. Spreading the news across Remnant as a final nail that would bury the Arc family name.

Sapphire couldn't let that happen no matter what.

"Anil sto-"

"Oi calm down Anie! Stop what you're doing!" As she tried to tackle Anil to the ground, she heard a familiar voice coming from nearby.

Anil was so surprised that her spell fizzle out and disappear. She look up toward the source of the voice and stare at the figure atop the building.

"Big brother?"

"Saph! Anie! Step back! Don't look up no matter what!"

Trusting their big brother instruction, both girls quickly stepped back and looked towards the ground. The other girls however were still in the middle of looking for the voice, and thus failed to react to the tragedy that was about to happen.

As she was looking down, Sapphire saw a single droplet of water hit the ground near the upperclassman. The single drop was then followed by rapid drop of liquid which seem to target the girls.

"What's this? Rain?" Said the girl that caused Sapphire's fall. The girl looked up and was met by a figure of a boy. The boy was standing on the edge seemingly waving his lower body from side to side. Upon closer look, she notice that the boy hand was holding an object located in the middle of his pants.

Realization dawn upon the girls.

"Oh my God! This is-!"

"It hit my hair!"

"NOOO!"

Their scream echoed in the alleyway.

* * *

"Let this be a lesson girls! Don't blame other for your failure! The reason that you are not chosen as Protégé is because you smell like piss, Loser! Fuhahaha!" Jaune laughed as he carefully avoid his sisters on his trajectory, aiming at the girl screaming and running from his stream. "Fuhahaha! You girls better take a proper bath! Or even better, flush yourself down the drain you moron!"

He kept provoking them, hoping that his sisters remain forgotten in the back ground. Listening to his words, they still obediently looked towards the ground. Good. It would be too embarrassing to do this in front of his sister.

"Now with my business done, I shall say my farewell. Good day imbeciles!" He quickly tidied his self and ran across the building laughing all the while.

"You-you-you'll pay for this!"

"Don't let that bastard get away!"

"After Him!"

He listened to the ruckus down below and waved towards his fuming pursuers.

"You will never catch me! _Au revoir, Boudin_!"

* * *

A moment of silence pass as Sapphire and Anil listened to their brother laughter fading to the distance. They slowly look up inevitably pausing to see the evidence of their brother "attack" against their upperclassmen.

Heaving a sigh, Sapphire turned toward her little sister, still worried about Anil condition after such a horrifying experience.

Anil was turning her back on her with one hand covering her mouth and a shaking shoulder. Oh no, she was crying as expected.

"Anil, are you alright?" Sapphire gave a reassuring pat on Anil's back, trying to calm the girl down. "They are gone. Jaune chased them away."

Or being chased by them technically. She really hoped that her big brother's alright. He was older than her seniors, but laughing loudly like that will draw attention from so many people, including his own bullies.

Sapphire took Anil's hand and began walking to the alley exit.

"It will be fine, alright, let's just go home and-"

"Puh-"

"Huh?" Sapphire noticing the noise that escaped from her sister, slowly looked back at Anil.

"Puhahahaha!" Anil was laughing loudly, gone was the sign of her distress from before. In its place was a beautiful smile filled with mirth. "Ahahaha! I can't believe big brother did that. Flush them down the drain he said!"

As Anil continued laughing, Sapphire was finally able to make sense of the scene before her. Was she covering her laugh before? The shaking shoulder must have also been caused by her giggle.

Sapphire let out a big groan and pulled Anil along, heading toward their home.

"Well what do you know? He really takes that 'peeing to show dominance' thing seriously." Anil let out another snort from that comment. "Judging from the drops, he really moves a lot too."

"Saph, stop it!"

Anil's giggling fit continued until they arrived in front of their house. Entering their house, they let out a relief sigh at knowing that they have entered their only safe haven.

"Have you calmed down yet?" Sapphire asked softly. Jaune's assistance had been on time and very much appreciated, but she still worried that the incident had caused a bad perception of the outside world for Anil. She might even decide to quit school and stay home again.

"Yes" Anil nodded slowly. She looked up at Sapphire and lower her head in guilt. "I am sorry Saph, for almost using my magecraft before."

She had been so caught up in the moment and almost cause trouble for her whole family. It was an action that could spell doom to their semi-peaceful life.

"Nah its fine. If I was better at protecting you, the situation wouldn't ended up like that." Sapphire brushed the whole thing aside like it wasn't a big deal. All of Anil older sibling were similar in that regard. Facing ostracism since their childhood, every Arc quickly learned to ignore or simplify matter as something of a coping mechanism "I am just glad that Jaune showed up when he did"

"Yeah, big brother look like a hero to me." Anil said with a small smile.

Standing on top of the building, stopping evil on their tracks, and laughing and joking around in the face of his adversaries. That was the image Anil has for her big brother. After that whole fiasco, he was probably the closest thing to a Hero Anil ever witnessed.

"Yes. He is our best brother after all." Well, their one and only brother, so technically he was the best by default. Sapphire admitted though that if anyone offered to exchange Jaune with the most handsome, charismatic gentlemen in the face of remnant, she would definitely shut the door at the guy's face and refused the stupid offer.

"Big brother's birthday is in two months right?" Anil continued the conversation. Jaune was going to be thirteen this year.

Like every child in the world, Jaune had also dreamed about getting into contract with a Heroic Spirit. No, he probably wanted it more than anyone else, and Anil also thought that he deserved to be a Protégé more than anyone else.

Jaune trained his body, swordsmanship and magecraft every day. Never once did Anil ever heard his big brother complain about training being hard. He studied myth, legend and history of all Heroes when people his age played around and enjoyed their childhood. He was always cheerful and kind to everyone. The adults that used to see him in disdain folded when they see him trying to help the townspeople.

Anil was sure of one thing.

Jaune Arc, her brother, would become the best Protégé ever and he deserved the best Heroic Spirit as his Patron.

"I hope a Heroic Spirit come to notice him."

"They will. Jaune's awesome. I bet the Heroic Spirit are still fighting over the right to contract him back in the Throne of Heroes."

Anil giggled at Sapphire's statement. Yes, that must be it. She could see the great Heroes smacking each other in a slugfest to be Jaune's Patron in her mind. The Greatest Greek Hero would spin the Child of Light and send him flying to the distance, while in the background Queen of Victory and the Last Pharaoh went into melee and pulled each other hair.

"...And if they won't?" Anil muttered to herself, uneasiness flooding her mind. She didn't want to see Jaune ended up like Saphron and Rose during his birthday. Her cheerful brother crushed by the weight of reality. Anil felt bitter just imagining it. Seeing it for real? That would break her heart in two.

Sapphire stayed silent for a while before enveloping her sister in a warm hug. She softly spoke while patting the younger sister head.

"Then that means they decided that our brother is already amazing the way he is."

Anil could feel her tension vanishing and returned the hug. She put her head on Sapphire's chest and silently listened to her heartbeat.

The two stay there in a comfortable silence, not knowing that in two months, their beloved brother would face an adversary that would decided his fate.

* * *

_Author notes_

_Yeah I don't have anything better to do than write this fic, so it come sooner that expected. Who knows? if a miracle happened then the third chapter will quickly follow._

_So yeah this chapter mainly show a few changes to the world of remnant. Yep magecraft existed and is quite a common knowledge to the people._

_The more people use magecraft the weaker it will be? Ehh, yeah let's just say that Remnant and Earth work differently and leave it at that. I haven't found any excuse for it. Sorry._

_This will never come up in the story, but Aura, semblance and dust doesn't existed in this world. All character fighting style will be heavily influenced by their Patron. Except Nora... her patron fit her original semblance and fighting style to a tee. _

_By the way, yeah Jaune's will make contract next chapter. I expected people to quit after knowing my choice of Patron, but whatever happen happened I guess._

_Thanks for dropping by. See you later._


	3. A Weak Hero

_Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate Series. They belong to their respective owners which are Rooster Teeth and Type-Moon if I'm not mistaken. Since I included a Jojo's reference in this chapter, this is an extra: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure belong to Hirohiko Araki-sensei._

_I don't own anything, except a laptop and a NA FGO account._

* * *

Cold air of the morning assaulted Jaune as he leaped toward another building. The sun had just began to rise, leaving the surrounding dark for the most part. Times when the people were rare like in the early morning was the only time for Jaune to freely maneuver with his newly found skill.

It had already been two weeks since Jaune discovered the joy of parkour and rooftops climbing. Different from the time of his first trial and error, Jaune now found the activity as more of a daily routine rather than an obstacle it had been before.

His bullies had already got a wind on this of course, but there were little they could do to stop him.

They had chased after him to the rooftop, but whether because they were not used to parkour or because he was just that good (Jaune believe it was the latter one), they had not managed to catch up to him. Jaune would either leave them in the dust or hide from their view with the numerous covers provided by the rooftop.

After that, they tried to catch him off guard by setting up traps on the rooftops near his house by means of bounded field or runes.

Too bad he had seen them preparing it by chance the first time. He had then contacted the respective building's owner and had even given assistance to dispel it.

He had gotten brownie points out of that. His bullies had not.

He had been kind enough not to tell on them at least, since there was a chance that they would just blame him in turn. It would be perfect if he had physical evidence. Too bad his Scroll camera quality couldn't be improved through magecraft.

Jaune hummed a little song as he sprinted on top of a tall arch that stood between the plaza and the streets connecting to it. He jumped down to the nearby roof and continued his run. Jumping and vaulting over the obstacles in his way, he traveled toward his destination with haste.

He could already make out his goal in the distance. A two storied building with a red cross painted on its signboard, one of the few clinics in Domrémy, came into his view.

Jaune slowed down his pace and hopped down to the street level. Landing safely on his feet, He took a little pause to put his breathing under control.

The young Arc walked to one of the nearby shops and stopped in front of the dark display window. His reflection stared back at him. Checking everything that could indicate his previous activity, He straightened his clothing and put his hair back in order. Satisfied with what he saw, Jaune made his way toward the clinic.

As soon as he stepped in, the familiar smell of medicines assaulted Jaune's nose.

He had spent quite a lot of time inside this place before and had already gotten used to the distinct smell of the building. By now, the smell of medicines and disinfectant didn't bother him in the least.

"Standard" or "minimalistic" were the words that he would use to describe the place. The wall were painted in white while the floor tile was light cream. It fulfilled the bare requirements of being a clinic by having a lobby for reception along with examination room on the ground floor. The second floor meanwhile was used by the staff to prepare their work and as a place to rest during break. It also contained a separate room to store medicine and supplies.

"Oh? Jaune, you are quite early today," Nicholas Arc, his father, greeted him from behind the reception desk.

Nicholas Arc was a man in the middle of his forties. Standing nearly at seven feet, he would cut an imposing figure if not for his thin build and amiable smile. He sported his dirty blonde hair in a buzz cut and kept his face clean shaven, giving him a clean image. He could be considered rather handsome if one ignored the bag under his eyes.

"I brought some breakfast." Jaune put the backpack he had been shouldering on the desk. He then took out the meal inside it before putting it back one by one.

The breakfast consisted of baguette that had been neatly cut, along with some butter and mixed fruit jam. Thermos filled with hot coffee had also been prepared, knowing that his father would need the extra kick from the caffeine to properly start his day.

His father had been staying at the clinic since Violet had been born around three months ago. This wasn't a new trend however, as he had done this every time they got a new addition to their family.

Juniper, his mom, had been the one who insisted on this arrangement. Kept busy thanks to being a competent doctor in both conventional and magical sense, a good night sleep had been one of vital needs for Nicholas to continue his grueling daily work. He would normally sleep in the Arc family house, but constant crying and wailing that came with having a newborn forced him to evacuate to the clinic.

Nicholas would come home for dinner and during weekends, but other than that he would stay in the clinic until the coast was clear so to speak. Bringing him breakfast had been a task that Jaune took voluntarily since it gave him excuse to practice his skill in secret.

"Ah thank you. This is really helpful," His father said and ruffled his hair.

"Dad, quit it!" Jaune quickly moved his head away to avoid further intrusion. He grumbled as he push down any hair that swerved out of place. Adults really liked to mess with other's hair. Mom and Dad had done it frequently since he was little. The fact that lately Saphron had imitated them further irritated him.

"It's not cool you know!"

Could it be that his father kept his hair short to avoid this torment? It's a very likely possibility.

"Sorry, sorry." Nicholas raised his hand and chuckled at his son indignation. "It must be pretty hard to keep it tidy after you hopped around the roof, huh?"

"… I don't know what you're talking about." Jaune saw through his father attempt at tricking him to expose his daily routine and kept his cool. He even added some whistling for good measure. "You must be hungry, Dad. Let's just go and eat some breakfast."

* * *

Nicholas let out a snort and rolled his eye in amusement. Jaune must have thought that his routine track across Domrémy rooftop was still a secret. Kids, they always underestimated adult's resourcefulness.

He had spread familiars across the town to report unusual activities for quite a while now. It was meant to keep him noticed in case of emergency case such as traffic accident and the likes. Imagine his surprise when he found out that his only son had ventured the rooftop like some spy out of action novel.

Nicholas had been worried and ordered the familiars to tail his son soon after that. Thankfully his worries was proven unfounded as Jaune nimbly moved from roof to roof without sustaining so much as a scratch.

He had decided by then to let Jaune continue his newfound hobby. It wasn't the worst quirk to have considering the state of the world at large. Who knew? Maybe the experience his son accumulated would come in handy down the line.

* * *

"That really hit the spot," Nicholas said as he reached out for another serving of coffee, enjoying the afterglow of having a good meal.

He was really thankful to Jaune for this. Usually, he would just order some takeout from nearby café and relive the time of his bachelor days. He wouldn't say this out loud, but too used to having a large family by now, Nicholas had felt quite lonely every time he ate alone.

Jaune's presence at breakfast time had been very welcomed because of that. Well, his son didn't do it solely out of the goodness of his heart however.

"Dad, come on," Jaune whined to him. His son was cleaning the table in haste, swiping all the crumbs and putting any leftover in a container he brought. "You promised that you will taught me Healing Magecraft when breakfast is over! Don't dilly dally and let's start now!"

Nicholas heaved a sigh at his son over-eagerness. Jaune took after Juniper in this regard. She might have mellowed over the years, but when he had first met her, she was anything but. It was rough to be pulled along by a girl two years younger than you. Well, when she was your first crush that changed everything though.

"Alright, alright, just give me a moment to finish this cup." Nicholas chugged down the said hot drink in gusto. Ouch, that would surely leave a number on his throat and digestive tracks. Oh, the things he did for his son.

Entering the examination room, Nicholas took his usual spot at the doctor chair. Jaune took the seat directly across from him, giving him his full attention. Nicholas cleared his throat and prepare to begin his lecture.

"Okay, to start with, do you know what a healing magecraft is Jaune?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow at the question and leveled an exasperated look on him.

"A spell for healing people."

While unspoken, Nicholas could clearly hear the silent "Duh" at the end of Jaune's statement. It was a bit irritating but understandable. Jaune was at the age where he started to think that all adults were secretly dumb, a phase that children would went through sooner or later.

"Then please humor me. What is the theory behind it? How exactly do you heal people with it?"

Jaune went silent at that. He closed his eyes and hum in deep thought. After some moment, he arrived at a conclusion and answered.

"Strengthening the concept of self-regeneration through reinforcement? Or hastening the natural healing process, maybe?" He guessed, clearly still being uncertain about what he said.

Ooh, big words for a little boy. Nicholas wasn't surprised though. Jaune was smarter than he let on, a result of his diligent study to raise his chance to be a Protégé.

"Wrong answer, but I'll give you point for trying," He replied. Although his expression was neutral, deep inside him, he was preening with pride at his son educated response.

"Your first answer was correct in theory, but in application it's near impossible. It would be hard to reinforce taste from food, let alone something so intangible and vague like self-regeneration concept. Protégé contracted to mages from the Age of Gods might be able to pull it off somehow, but for common practitioner like us? Impossible." He continued on, knowing that Jaune silence meant that he understood the current subject.

"Your second answer is a bit off. Even something simple like skin won't fully recover after it is damaged. The wound would leave scar or skin discoloring after it heal. What if you got stabbed for example? There's a limit to what human healing process could do."

Some magus do used the method stated to perform first aid, but then again Time Manipulation was extremely rare. Last he heard, the only practitioner left of this thaumaturgy was a small family from Vale.

"So how does healing magecraft work?" He paused for a dramatic effect. Jaune who had been taking a note on his lecture promptly stopped and stared at him with wonder.

"The correct answer is by replacing the lost part with a new one and altering the abnormal part back to its original state manually."

A moment of silence passed before Jaune finally opened his mouth. In a complete deadpan he muttered,

"...That's ridiculous."

"That's magecraft son."

Nicholas took a nearby scissors and made a cut on his arm. Jaune gasped in surprise at his sudden action, but calmed down after he saw his father kept his own composure.

"The steps for healing magecraft is finding the abnormality, analyzing its base state, creating missing part, and lastly molding it back to normal." Nicholas calmly taught Jaune even as his arm bleed out. He held his injured arm in front of Jaune, silently telling him to observe the process that was going to happen.

"_Keep your requiem, rewind the experience, and bath it in gold."_ As Nicholas' chant was completed, the cut wound disappeared right in front of Jaune's eyes. No blemish or flaw were visible on it.

"The first and the second step should be easy since you have mastered reinforcement. Now the most difficult step is the third one." Nicholas regarded Jaune again and gave him another problem. "Jaune, tell me, how would you create a missing organ?"

"[Gradation Air]?" Jaune answered in reflex, before retracting his answer instantly. "No, it would just disappear after sometimes pass."

Gradation Air or Projection was a spell under Material Transmutation magecraft. It basically convert magical energy into real object. It might sound amazing, but said object wouldn't last forever. The magic would eventually run out and the object would disappear with it.

Nicholas could hear the figurative gear turning inside Jaune's head. He patiently wait until Jaune arrived at the answer by himself.

The only way magecraft construct would last was by keep pumping it with magical energy. No, there existed another way. What if you prepared all the required material? The only thing that left to do was to process it. Even if the whole process involve magecraft, the end product wouldn't rely on magical energy to sustain its state.

Then the correct method to create organs was…

"Dad, is it by alchemy?"

"Correct." Nicholas nodded and handed him a couple of books from one of the small bookshelf in the room. One was a guidebook for human morphology, while the other was a book about basic alchemy.

"Jaune remember this. Human body in its most basic state consist mainly of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus along with miniscule amounts of potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium." Nicholas listed as Jaune examined the two books.

Jaune raised an eyebrow at that statement and frowned.

"Dad, you can bought all of them from a nearby store."

"Yes, you could." Nicholas floated a wry smile at his son scandalous look. Jaune was obviously bothered by the cold fact that human bodies can be broken down to common element. He was still a kid at heart after all. "When doing an emergency healing, you could also compensate by making use of available nutrients or recycling non-vital parts from your body."

"Well, gathering the ingredients is the easy part, turning it into organ is the hardest," He explained. "The more complex the original function is, the harder it is to recreate it. Skin, blood and muscle tissues is relatively simple compared to bones and fully functioning organ for example."

It might sound surprisingly easy to create organ based on his explanation, but the truth was anything but. Even a skilled practitioner of healing magecraft would struggle for weeks to recreate something as complex as liver or kidney. When it came to organs like brain, spine or genitalia, it was basically impossible unless you were a skilled Protégé for certain Heroic Spirits like the God of Medicine or the Renaissances Alchemist.

"For your training, I want you to keep practicing the second step for the magecraft on yourself. Keep doing it until you can correctly measure the amount and type of element needed to recreate all of your organ."

"Uhh… Dad isn't that a bit much?"

"No, not at all. Trust me on that."

Jaune needed to get accustomed with his own body first. Repeated training would keep him in tuned with his body condition and make it easier to heal himself in the future.

As far as Nicholas was concerned, adding healing magecraft to Jaune's repertoire was to keep his son safe in the future. He would need to take a good care of himself before trying to worry about others.

"When you are able to do that proficiently, we will then move on to the next stage. Until then, work hard alright" He finished his lecture by patting Jaune's head again, eliciting another complain from the boy.

"Okay, okay I got it." Jaune said, still pouting from the earlier head pats. Nicholas smiled at his response, knowing that Jaune would keep his words even if the choice of words was flippant. "Anything else, Dad?"

"There is one thing actually."

Nicholas was looking at him with a small smile, though for some reason Jaune could only see it as a somber one. Straightening his posture, he looked back and wait patiently for the advice.

"Remember that one day, all life will end." Nicholas said solemnly. "You can recreate organs as many times as you like, but you can't recreate life. When life's over, it's over. Please keep that in mind."

Nicholas took a pause at that and let out a chuckle. He scratched the back of his head and make an easygoing smile.

"Wow, listen to me. Being all old and wise. I guess the years is getting to me," He joked and laughed, though Jaune stayed silent through it all. "Everything I said is true though-"

"I will Dad."

"Hmm?"

"I will take it to heart." Jaune nodded seriously. He put a hand over his heart and declare without hesitation. "That's an Arc's word."

And an Arc never goes back on his word.

* * *

It was a month after his first session with Nicholas when Jaune started to feel on edge. The reason for this was obvious to him.

His 13th birthday, the only deadline that actually mattered, was coming in nine days.

Domrémy residence had jokingly stated that the period leading to the 13th birthday felt no different than the Saint's walk leading to the stake.

Jaune would like to digress however. The Saint of the White Flag had dauntlessly faced her demise with admirable acceptance, as a Saint should. The children awaiting the 13th birthday on the other hand, had no such dignity. Most would probably be fitted to a straightjacket by their parents if said clothing was sold freely in public.

As the days went by, his anxiety grew in turn. He would begin to space out more often, and his heart wouldn't settle down even during Sunday mass. His sleeping habit had started to worsen as well. He would still be awake past midnight or even woke up before daybreak.

His family had been trying to cheer him up, especially his mom and Anil. They had prepared his favorite meals and had asked him what present he would want for his birthday. Rather than making him feel better, it had ended up making him feel more pathetic instead.

The only thing that managed to distract him from the lurking depression was his daily training. During school period, he would concentrate on performing structural analysis on his organs and after that he would spend his time on Domrémy rooftops until quite late.

The only good thing that came from this was the fact that by now he could actually perform simple healing magecraft to treat injuries in the level of torn muscles.

It was a feat that impressed his father to no end. Apparently, his learning speed had been extraordinary, so much that his father had speculated that his origin had something to do with healing.

To be frank, right now Jaune couldn't have cared less about what his origin was. He would probably react the same whether his origin turned out to be related to something so awesome like photon or something totally lame like cold noodle.

Impatient about his progress, he had immediately started a new routine to further his skills in healing magecraft. He would keep leftover chicken bones or lamb ribs from dinner. He would then smash or snap them in half before trying to put them back together via healing magecraft.

"_Seep in/unravel/heal_." He chanted his personal aria.

_Finding the abnormality, analyzing its base state, creating missing part, molding it back to normal._ The four steps of healing magecraft repeated inside his head as he pushed his Od towards the two bone fragment in his hand.

The blueprint of the original bone appeared in his mind. As he had cleanly split it in half, he had no need to create a new part. He focused on the fourth step of the healing magecraft and envision countless threat to connect the bone together.

As the glow of magical energy started to dime, Jaune looked at the single bone in his hand. He raised the bone to his eye level and flicked it outward.

The bone snapped in half with little to no resistance. It was a failure.

"Dammit!" He threw the leftover bones in frustration and flopped down backwards, laying down on his bed with his arm spread wide beside him.

Jaune's rate of success on mending even the simplest fracture was pretty low. Only around one out of ten attempts would result in a bone that would last through his pressure test.

Normally, Jaune would knew that it was actually a good enough result considering he just started this training two days ago, but his impatience born from the ever closing deadline kept him from being satisfied at the meager result.

He raised his arm above him and glanced at it. Highlighted by the backlight coming from his bedroom lamp, the back of his hand remain empty.

"…Why?"

Had no one chose him because his skill wasn't impressive enough? Or did he lack a certain something? Why wasn't he considered worthy? If he was worth something, then why did no Heroic Spirit bothered to leave their mark on him?

Question after question appeared on his mind. Each one dragging his self-confidence lower and lower to a downward spiral. Jaune felt like he was being swallowed whole by his own depression.

_Pathetic_

_Worthless_

_All because you are an Arc_

"DAMMIT!"

"Jaune? Is something wrong? Are you okay?" A knock came from his bedroom door. Startled by the suddenness of it, Jaune quickly moved into a seating position and wipe his tears.

"I-I'm fine nothing's wrong." Jaune barely chocked out the response. It sounded so unconvincing even in his own ears. He called out towards the door, "I was just practicing magecraft, mom!"

Not long after, despite his excuses the door opened and his mother, Juniper Arc, stepped inside the room with a worried expression. "Dear?"

Just like the rest of his family, His mother's locks of golden blonde was her most noticeable trait. She kept it loosely tied into a side plait, reasoning that it was easy hairstyle to maintain and didn't interfere with her housework. Contrasting to his father Nicholas, his mother was quite petite, perhaps around 5'1 in height. Despite giving birth to seven child, she remained quite thin and perhaps because of the same reason, she always exuded a motherly air.

Juniper let herself inside and sat beside him on the side of the bed. She pulled him to her side and put her arms around him, hugging him close.

"I heard the yell from before Jaune," She hushed and pat his back. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?"

Jaune could never go against his mother. She radiated so much kindness and her presence alone calmed him down more than he would like to admit. He could never hide things from her. No, right now he didn't want to hide anything.

"Am I not good enough, mom?" He sobbed. His voice were breaking and he had begun to tear up. He looked down in frustration, not wanting to show such a pitiful sight to his mother. "I've done everything I can! I trained! I prayed! I helped others! What more do they want from me? Is there something lacking from me!?"

All his frustration. All his fears. Everything that he had bottled up come out without stop at his mother insistence.

"There is nothing wrong with you!" His mother expression was unusually stern as she kneeled down and forced him to look at her. "Jaune, look at me! You always do your best. I witness it firsthand every day. You know that I am proud of you right?"

"…Then why?" _Why am I not chosen? _"Is it because I am an Arc?"

Juniper was at lost for words.

Jaune could imagine why. Saphron and Rose had probably asked the same thing. Juniper herself had done the same, he bet. Perhaps every Arc following the leaving of the Saint had asked the same thing. Yet no one had managed to answer it with denial.

The truth always hurt.

He was aware of his damning future. He shoulder the burden of his ancestor just like the rest of his family. He wasn't the only Arc that had tried to reverse their fate. In the past 80 years there were more than a hundred Arcs children. All were talented. All were a hard worker, yet none of them had succeed in their endeavors, so why should he be any different?

His hard work didn't matter. He wasn't special. He was just another one of Arc failures.

It was the truth. They were abandoned. He didn't have any chance to be a Protégé from the very start.

"…It's fine" He whispered. "I'm fine mother. Can you leave me alone for a while?"

"Jaune?"

Jaune stopped paying attention to his mother's words. Why should he? He already knew what she was about to say. It would merely be words of consolation. More empty words. More promise that everything would be fine.

He was sick of it.

"I said I'm okay! Just leave me alone mom!"

His mother's hurt expression as he shook her off was the last thing he saw before he curled up and hide his body under the blanket. Even then Jaune could still feel his mother patiently petting him and in complete silent gave him a kiss from the other side of the blanket.

"I am sorry."

His mother parting words would stay and haunt Jaune as he cried himself to a restless sleep.

* * *

Jaune opened his eyes to the sound of music.

It was a jolly little piece that he had never heard before, yet at the same time something that felt so familiar to him. Had he listened to it in passing from commercial or something? Jaune wasn't sure.

The only thing that he was sure of was that the music filled him with so much glee that he forgot all his worry from the possibility of not being chosen and the guilt settling inside him as he hurt his mother. He was also sure that this simple little tune had given him the happiness that surpass all the joy he had ever experienced in his 12 years of living.

Laughing in spirit, He happily danced to it and skipped to his bedroom door. Not stopping there, he made his way downstairs to the front door, eager to get out and meet the source of the melody.

He noticed that he was not alone in this. Behind him, he could make out figures of his sisters following in his step. Verte, Sapphire and Anil trailed behind him while laughing and singing along to the tune. None of them payed any mind to the fact that they were barefooted or in slippers nor do the cared that they were walking around in their sleepwear. To be fair, neither did Jaune.

As the four sibling energetically searched for the source across Domrémy, they were joined by other children. Some of them, Jaune knew personally or had seen in passing while the rest were complete stranger. He even saw some of his bullies frolicking along the road.

None of that matter, they were all together in this. They were all bound together. They were all his companion.

They would follow this music together.

* * *

After some time passed, Jaune realized that he had walked quite the distance. The town of Domrémy had already been left far behind them. Strangely enough, he didn't feel tired at all. No, in fact he believed that he could go even faster. He could run across this woods while carrying all of his sisters without any difficulty. He was sure of it.

But he would be patient.

He didn't have to rush.

He only need to follow the piper

* * *

They had been walking for days. They had not rest, had not stopped, had not drank, and had not ate.

Yet none of that matter.

He wasn't hungry.

He wasn't thirsty.

He wasn't sick.

He wasn't tired.

He would keep dancing and laughing and singing. No matter the time, no matter the place.

As the sun began to set, Jaune board the big ship along with the other children. He was excited to go on this journey.

A journey for what? He didn't know. No, he did not need to know.

He only need to follow the piper.

* * *

It was some night after he had disembarked from the ship.

He was skipping on a mountain road. It was a pretty narrow one, so they had to make a single line as they traverse the area. There were other children, his companion, walking in front of him. Perhaps because he was the tallest or maybe the oldest, his place was in the very back of the line. He didn't mind.

Jaune felt the raindrop pelting his face. They were advancing in the middle of heavy rain, or was it a storm? He didn't care. As long as he could hear the music he would not worry. This storm was a trifling matter, no different than the hot shower he would take every day.

Despite the cold of the rain, the strong wind and the ever flashing thunder in the distance, Jaune keep walking onward.

Ignoring even the rumbling sound, the fallen rocks, and the shaking earth beneath him, Jaune keep walking forward.

His consciousness disappeared as the landslide struck him.

* * *

Jaune awaken to the sound of thunder and the raindrop falling from above. He was laying facing upwards. Still half-awake, he absentmindedly noticed that he didn't recognize the place he had woken up in.

Canopy of trees come into his view as soon as he opened his eyes. They felt closer than how it should be. Either the trees was short or he was in a particularly high spot.

It was hard to make out the shape of individual branch and leaf in the middle of the dark, but during short flashes created by lightning he was able to see some of them albeit only in an instant.

Jaune was pretty sure that he had fallen asleep inside his bedroom after the talk with his mother. Not in the middle of wilderness.

'_Am I dreaming?'_

He had heard about lucid dreams before, but all of this seems way too real to be one.

He could feel the wetness from the raindrop falling on his face. He shivered from the cold of the air and the ground below him. Now that he concentrated on his limbs he noticed that both his hand and feet ached as if protesting from being used without a proper rest. He tried to move them, yet he was met with resistance. Something was obstructing his movement.

Alarmed by the situation, Jaune glanced down in panic.

"…What… the hell!?"

He was half buried in earth and debris. Stuck in the middle of a finished landslide, he was simply lucky that his head hadn't been buried along with the rest of his body.

Perhaps because he finally paid attention to it, he could recognize the pain all over his body. He could clearly feel every bruise and every scraps. It hurt to even breathe. He didn't need structural analysis to know that his ribs were probably broken.

He tried to move his limbs again. He could barely feel his hand and feet responding, buried as they were. Yet even small movement sent spike of pain down his spine. His muscles was sore and he was pretty sure that some of them were torn beyond recognition.

Even then he forced them and managed to pull his hands out. His legs on the other hand was stuck under a large piece of rock. The dirt and mud above had actually cushioned the rock, otherwise he would be a bloody mess waist down. He was scared that if he move too much the debris would shifted and the rock would tumble down and crush his body whole.

He was effectively stuck under the landslide. He couldn't reinforced his body because of the injuries they sustained. He couldn't pull his self out because he was stuck under the debris. He was completely alone in the middle of nowhere and completely lost to how he ended up in this situation.

Jaune Arc, for the first time of his life felt completely helpless. "…Help," Jaune whimpered. He faced the sky, and screamed in desperation.

"Can anyone hear me?!" His throat hurt just from that, but he didn't care. He screamed even louder, hoping for a help to come. "Please! I'm trapped here! Help me!" He yelled, repeating the same line over and over again.

"Mom! Dad! Someone! Anyone! Please! Please help! Help me! I-I can't,"

He begged. He cried. Yet no soul heard him. He was alone. Completely alone.

He would be left here alone.

He would lay forgotten

He would die without anyone knowing.

What an unheroic end.

How unsightly.

"…Someone…Anyone…Help!"

His last cry was swallowed whole by the pouring rain.

* * *

_Author notes: _

_Hello again. For those who have read the author note for last chapter, sorry. Originally the scene of Jaune's contract would be in this chapter, but things happened and somehow the words count has exceeded 10k. I have written the scene for Jaune's contract with his Heroic Spirit, but I wanted to update it separately so expect the next chapter in one to three days from now. _

_Well this chapter was quite a chore to do, especially the healing magecraft part. I looked around type-moon wikia and only get some undetailed answer, so like everyone else I turned to Jojo's reference during this time of distress._

_What do you guys think? Is it too bizarre?_


	4. Oath of No Regret

_Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own RWBY or Fate Series. They belong to their respective owners which are Rooster Teeth and Type-Moon if I'm not mistaken. I don't own anything, except a laptop and a NA FGO account._

_By the way, thanks for the review, favorite and follow guys. It really makes me happy._

* * *

Jaune laid helplessly under the debris. He had yelled until he couldn't anymore. He had shifted his effort to heal some of his injuries, but stopped halfway when he realized that he would use the limited nutrition his body stored. He would die faster from having his nutrition sucked.

The only thing that he could do was let his tears out as he stare at the darkness above.

How long would he be trapped here? He had learnt that human wouldn't last 3 days without water. Now he could still take small sips of rain water, but how about afterwards?

Dying by dehydration.

What a pitiful way to die.

How weird. Sometimes ago he was worrying about not being chosen as Protégé. Now? He couldn't care less. A person who quietly accepted his fate was not fitted to be a hero. Maybe the heroic spirit could see this and had ignored him because of that.

They had made the right choice not to invest in him.

Jaune was tired. Both his body and mind were fatigued. The only thing that he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep. He would sleep until all of this pass. He would sleep until this became a dream.

Jaune closed his eyes and surrendered himself to sleep.

"Caw! Caw!" A distinctive inhuman voice jolted Jaune awake. He looked up to find the source and was met with the sight of a black bird the size of an eagle perching right beside him. Its yellow eyes looked at him inquisitively.

'_A raven?' _The avian was certainly similar to raven if not for one distinctive trait.

It sported a bone white mask in front of its head. It wasn't an animal. It was a Grimm, a Nevermore.

Grimm was monsters personally created by the God of Darkness. All of them were black jet in color and had white mask in the place of their face. From the time of their existence they only had one purpose.

Completely eradicating humanity from the face of Remnant.

'_-Shit!' _Jaune mind cleared up at that instant. He rapidly tried to smack the Grimm away only for the Nevermore to dodged it easily and attacked him with its beak before flying up and perching at a nearby branch.

How careless could he be?! Grimm was attracted to negative emotion. Sadness, fear, hatred, despair, all of them were Grimm bait. His wailing coupled with the negative thoughts must have been nothing short of an invitation for them.

Dying by dehydration? Forget that, the Grimm would be upon him any moment now. His death wouldn't be so peaceful anymore. His flesh would be plucked. He would be torn limb to limb, divided among the beast and devoured alive in a moment.

He needed to run, and fast.

"_Seep in/unravel/heal_!"

Jaune flooded his body with Od. His whole body was filled with injuries, bruises and scratches, but he ignored them. He needed to heal the injuries on his leg first before he could reinforce it. He only needed his leg to run. He would worry about the rest later.

Performing structural analysis in haste, he discovered torn muscles and a particularly great fracture on his left leg. _The tibia_ his brain offered. The fracture was most likely caused from the rock crushing it during the fall.

His first attempt succeed at reforming his muscles. It wasn't that hard of a feat since it was something that he already mastered before. The mending of his bone on the other hand…

"Come on, come on! _Seep in/unravel/heal_!"

He visualized countless thread pulling the bone fragments together. They would intertwine and harden, reforming themselves into a single bone. Yet a sharp pain as he tried to move his leg clearly indicate that his healing effort had failed.

Jaune gritted his teeth in frustration as he flooded the fracture with magical energy once more. He kept doing the process over and over again, each attempt actually faring worse than the previous because of his rushing and uneven breathing.

During his previous training, the only fracture he had managed to heal was a cleanly split one. This time however his bone was shattered into several small pieces thanks to the crushing weight of the rock.

If his chance to heal a simple fracture was one in ten, then the possibility of him succeeding in his current effort was close to zero.

Jaune could hear howling and roaring closing in on his location. The Grimms were going to appear at any second.

A boar shaped Grimm, a Boarbatusk, was the first to appear from the woods on his right. It glared at him and let out a loud snort. After scratching the earth a few times with it front hoof, it started to rush toward him.

Luckily for Jaune, the Boarbatusk was hindered by the uneven and slippery ground from the landslide. Jaune wasn't sure whether because it was modeled after boar or because it wasn't perfectly a boar, but apparently it was not built to climb a hill of mud. It would either slip or get its foot stuck in the mud.

It was only a matter of time before the Boarbatusk succeed on its endeavor or another Grimm join in the fray. He didn't have any more time to waste.

Knowing this, he gave up trying to heal his fracture by the books. He could try a hundred times and still fail. Another approach, there must be another way to keep his bones from breaking again.

A crazy idea pop into Jaune's mind. It was risky, stupid, and idiotic with little to no chance of actually working.

He would do it anyway in the basis that he would likely die in a few moments if he didn't try anything.

"_Seep in/complete unravel/-_"

Jaune let out a roar of pain. His eyes teared up as he felt his whole tibia disintegrating. It's only the first step and he was already starting to regret his decision.

The healing magecraft his father taught him in essence had worked just like a jigsaw puzzle. You put things together and if something was lacking you made one to cover it.

The thing that Jaune attempted to do was the complete opposite. He was going to remake the whole bone. It was the same as a child who gave up at a particularly hard jigsaw puzzle and decided to draw the complete picture instead.

It was a phenomenally retarded idea. Perhaps he had actually suffered a brain damage from the landslide.

Amidst the haze of pain, Jaune focused on the blueprint of his left tibia that was seared on his mind. He had the raw ingredients from the disintegrated original. He only needed to go through the building process again.

He mold the element to the intended blueprint via alchemy and filled the formula with magical power. This was the last step.

If he succeed he would run with two reinforced leg. If he failed he would hopped with his right leg through muddy forest ground in the middle of the rain under the pursuit of a dozen Grimm.

The first meant a chance to live. The latter meant the Grimm would get a little exercise before they had him as their dinner.

_Oh Father in Heaven, I beg you! Just this once! Please help me! Please give me a chance to live!_

"_-HEAL!"_

As the glow of the magical energy fade, Jaune hastily tried to move his leg again. There were no crack nor extra pain to indicate any failure. It was a success.

It was a miracle.

"Yes! I did it!"

His new bone was perfectly in place. Frankly speaking, even Jaune himself was unsure that such thing was possible. He thanked the Lord above in his heart. This miracle probably costed him the fortune of a lifetime, but he didn't care. This moment was all that matter.

Just in time too, since the Grimm had finally converged on his location.

When he glanced down, the lone Boarbatusk had been joined by the rest of its pack. The extra number however had become a disadvantage since a Boarbatusk that slip on the mud would roll down and pushed the other down as well.

Deep into the woods he could make out the shape of various Grimm such as the bipedal wolf, Beowolves, the spiked bear, Ursa, and the lizard like Creeper making their way toward him. They would arrive sooner than later.

He couldn't see their figure amidst the night and the storm but he was sure that flock of flying Grimm like Nevermore or Lancer were gliding above him. That, or he was lucky and they got blown away by the strong wind.

He was running out of time. He healed his leg, but he was still stuck under the rubble.

Jaune shifted his effort on removing the boulder on top of his leg. He reinforced his newly healed leg and struggled to pull it from under the rubble, all the while trying to push the rocks aside with his reinforced hands.

"Come on! MOVE!" The rock budged under the pressure and swerved to the side. Gravity and lack of resistance from the ground forced the rock to roll down the slope.

Jaune promptly move his body away from its route, dodging to the left. He managed to take a glimpse of the rolling stone being pushed away by two Boarbatusk and flattening an unlucky Creeper instead. Looking down, all the Grimm had made way to the base of the landslide.

Jaune glanced around and looked for an opening in the encirclement of Grimm. Finding the left side still sparse of Grimm, Jaune took the chance and run down the hill with reinforced leg.

He slid down to avoid an Ursa's swipe and jumped to the side as a Beowulf tried to tackle him. He was maneuvering around two Creeper as something, probably another Grimm, hit him from behind.

"-Guahg!"

He was launched forward, flying in the air towards the forest. Regaining himself as he was about to hit the ground, Jaune proceed to perform a roll to break his fall. Having no intention to turn back and check exactly which Grimm had mauled him, Jaune continued his retreat deeper into the woods.

* * *

The burning heat of his circuits was the first thing that clued Jaune on his ever closing limit.

Well, no surprise there. The amount of magical energy he had utilized must have been enormous compared to his daily uses. He had healed a lot of his muscle and had also performed the crazy stunt with his tibia. Coupled that with his non-stop reinforcement, his circuit was currently scalding hot without any doubt.

Nevertheless he couldn't just stop and rest up. No, he couldn't even afford to slow down. Collective roars, growls and hisses coming from some distance behind him keep reminding him of that fact. He had been running away for quite a while now, yet he hadn't been able to gain distance from the pursuing menace.

Running down the forest, Jaune realized, was way more difficult then he thought it would. If he was running on even ground then he would had gotten away long ago.

The forest ground was uneven and teemed with natural obstacles like tree roots, bushes, and even the occasional small holes. The slipperiness caused by the wet ground and the darkness along with the rain obscuring his vision completed the disaster package.

It's not just once or twice that he almost got caught up because of tripping or running headfirst into an obstacle.

The Grimm was also persistent in their pursuit of him. Quite understandable really, since none of them would fall from fatigue or low morale and unlike him, they must have also been used to moving around on this perilous track. Perhaps their animal like built made the work to be so much easier.

Jaune knew that he couldn't run forever. Either his magic circuit would shut down and overheated or his body got filled to the brim by lactic acid and hit its limit. Either way he would die from the stampede of Grimm behind him. He needed a new plan.

A place to hide… no the Grimm would sniff him out by his negative emotion. He was most likely the only human in the whole forest. Every Grimm would swarm into his location just from a miniscule of negative emotion, and to be honest with his current predicament he had plenty of it.

He needed a place that Grimm couldn't enter. A holy ground? No, there's no way there would be one in this jungle. He couldn't identify one in the first place anyway. The treetops? No, it would take too much time to climb and even then he wouldn't be safe from flying Grimm. Hell, an Ursa might be able to topple tree down. It wasn't an option.

_What should I do!? Come on, think!_

There were plenty of chase scene that Jaune had witnessed whether in a film or literature. In them, the protagonist would either jump down a cliff into a river or fall into a river. Should he try to emulate them?

It sound stupid, but every stupid act he had done had actually worked. He got away from the bullies by ninja-jumping and healed his leg by completely remaking the whole bone instead of trying to repair it. Trying to get away from a stampede by diving into a river? Sure, sign him right up.

So… how exactly did one found a river anyway? Should he just follow the stream of flowing water beneath his feet? Would they end up in a river? He wasn't sure, but he was going to do it. He didn't have any better idea anyway.

With his mind set, Jaune ran following the water. Water naturally flow to lower ground, but Jaune honestly couldn't tell if he was moving down or not. There weren't any sharp turn or distinctive slopes which made him feel like there was almost no progress, but he was definitely moving forward.

His advance stopped as he came out into a clearing. Directly across from him was a towering cliff wall that spanned far to the distance. He was screwed. With the pack of Grimms behind him, this cliff wall had become pretty much a dead end.

Wait, didn't the water flow here? Where did it ended up in?

He moved his sight around, following the water track in haste. There, at the side of the cliff was a crack in the earth surface, a fissure. Jaune quickly moved and peered at it.

The fissure wasn't that huge, maybe around 6 to 7 feet in depth and even the opening was small. It might barely able to fit him in. Well, that flaw was actually a blessing in this situation.

He was small enough to enter it and the Grimm wasn't. It would grant him safety against the Grimm. Without hesitation, Jaune slid down the crack and entered the fissure.

His feet made a little splash as it made contact with the water collected inside. He placed his hands on both side of the wall. One side was rough stone from the cliff while the other one was a mix of earth and rock. The lower part, thankfully, while narrow was still wider than the opening. Jaune could fit in just well but he couldn't move around too much.

Beastly sound coming from above reminded him of his situation. Jaune instantly laid prone to the ground, narrowly avoiding a swipe from a persistent Beowulf. When he looked up, the Grimm were crowding the entrance of the fissure, trying to fit in their head or limbs to capture him.

Letting out a yelp of panic, Jaune swiftly turned his sight ahead and crawled through the fissure.

Crawling through the muddy ground was an unpleasant experience. The rainwater had filled the place so that if he laid to low, his nose would be submerged. He was stuck in an awkward position of laying not too high as not to let the Grimm reached him and not too low as to leave him a room to breathe.

Since the water level had not risen that much, it should mean that they must had ended up somewhere else. The water was moving ahead of him, away to the other side of the fissure. He didn't know where it would lead him, but there were no other path available. He just had to keep pushing through.

There, at the end of the fissure, Jaune found his ticket out of his predicament. A fair sized crack was situated on the fissure wall. It was sizeable enough for Jaune to slip through and continue if he was going to advance by walking sideways.

Jaune scrambled toward the crack, speeding up on his crawling. Still mindful of the Grimm above, he ducked and entered it, moving in deeper without hesitation.

* * *

Complete darkness accompanied Jaune as he sidled the interior of the crack. He wasn't quite sure of how long he had walked, but it must had been quite far judging from how the sound of the rain and Grimms had already faded into the distance.

Advancing blindly might not be a good idea, but he had already turned off his reinforcement some time ago, eager to let his circuit rest now that he had escaped immediate danger. He wanted to rest his body as well, but the narrow space of the crack wasn't suitable for it.

He stubbornly moved along, itching to find a place where he could lay down and catch a break. In the back of his mind, he noticed that he was steadily moving further down. It didn't matter though. His destination, wherever it was, would be a hundred times better than being up there with the Grimm.

Jaune squinted his eyes as light entered the crevice. He moved his eyes toward the light, following it to what he thought was the exit. Sound of falling water entered his ears as he came closer to it.

"-Wow…"

He had never seen anything like this.

The place that he had ended up in was a large room with an elevated platform in the center, leaving the rest of the room submerged in water. Various kind of plant life grew inside the room freely and when he looked more closely, Jaune noticed that the walls, ceiling and the floor was covered with crisscrossing vines and roots. The green light coming from the glowing moss was reflected by the water pool below, filling the room with unique illumination.

The spot where he ended up in was an opening in the wall a bit above the pool of water. He jumped down into the water and swam towards the platform, all the while taking in the sight of the place.

After the horrifying nightmare from before, seeing the mystical place gave him an even bigger impact. He climbed to the platform and looked around.

He couldn't decide if the whole structure was man-made or not. The room was built with polished stones, yet in some places trees and branches filled the occasional gap between the masonry. It wasn't like the place was taken over by the greeneries after fallen to ruin either. No, it was as if man and Mother Nature decided to make a joint project and let loose to their imagination.

It was bizarrely amazing. The whole place was filled with an allure that couldn't be replicated by the people of the current age. Did the people of ancient time built this place? Could be. The thick amount of mana in the air support his hypothesis.

A ruin from the Age of Gods. How awesome is that!? Jaune could feel excitement bubbled from his chest. This was a discovery that rarely happened and he found it all by himself! Would there be a treasure somewhere? His young mind thought up scenario after scenario, each one more exciting than the previous.

"Atchoum!"

Jaune sneeze pulled him out of his reverie.

"Ah right, I've been spending time in the rain. Ugh, my clothes are all wet."

It didn't bother him because of the situation before, but right now, in the safety of this sanctuary, the discomfort brought by the cold and the wetness of his clothes finally made their selves known.

Jaune took off his clothes. His beloved hoodie, shirt, and jeans were wringed and sprawled on the floor, leaving him in his boxers. He set some fire on some branch he gathered from across the room to dry his clothes and warm his body. He sucked in fire magecraft, but conjuring flame the size of a lighter was something he could do.

He sat down and began to heal his wounds. His sprint through the woods had not given him any noteworthy injuries thanks to his reinforcement and clothing. There were some scratches, yes, but nothing major that would impair his ability to move.

The only wounds he needed to take care of were the leftover from the landslide, particularly the muscle in his arms and his broken ribs. He took his time on healing them. His broken ribs was just a small fracture and thus something easy enough to heal with usual healing method. He wasn't eager to repeat the feat with his tibia just yet, if ever.

The heat generated by his working magic circuit sent comfortable warmth through his body. He didn't payed it any mind before, but maybe the heat of his circuit had offset the cold of the rain. It was a welcomed miscalculation if nothing else.

Jaune sighed and thought about his situation. It was all good that he managed to escape immediate danger, but what should he do next? He would need food to sustain himself. He also need to figure out his location and searched for a way out of this ruin, and even then he would need to look for the nearest city to get help.

He got a long way to go before he could be really safe.

Jaune looked toward the doorway in the other side of the room. Corridor made of stones with growing roots and woods entered his view. He would need to explore the place and looked for a way out.

_Tomorrow, _he decided. He was feeling too tired and his circuit needs to rest up. He stayed awake for a while before dousing the fire and falling to sleep.

* * *

Jaune awaken to hard ground beneath him. His sleepy mind took in the view around him, and fell into panic. He sat up and looked around the place. A second later, with his mind finally catching up to his situation, he laid down again and let out a sigh.

"So it's not a dream after all."

Ending up in a landslide in a middle of nowhere, being chased by horde of Grimm and finally reaching this ruin after his whole ordeal, all of it felt so unreal to him. He had imagined to go on an adventure before, but experiencing the real one was something else.

The underground ruin offer no indication of time, so Jaune wasn't quite sure if he had been sleeping for a single hour or for the whole day. Was it morning or was it night right now? Nothing could answer his question.

He stood up and made way to his clothes. They weren't that dry yet, but Jaune had a feeling that exploring an unknown ruin in nothing but his boxer wasn't exactly a bright idea. Equipping his shirt and jeans, he paused for a while before tying his hoodie on his waist. He wasn't keen on wearing two layers of wet clothing.

He moved to the edge of the platform and scooped out some water from the pool into his mouth. Staying dehydrated was an important thing to do especially when he wasn't sure if there was going to be another water source nearby.

Having done everything that he could do, Jaune head toward the corridor, setting out to explore the ruin.

As Jaune traversed the corridor, he noticed that unlike the room he was in, the place was well-lit even without the glowing moss. He had been searching for the source, but found none.

_Magic probably,_ he reasoned. The place was brimming with mana after all, having an unknown source of light wasn't that much of a big deal when he considered that the ruin was a product of ancient mystery.

Just like the previous room, the corridor was filled with various plants on its surface. As he walked further away from the previous room though, the plant life had subsided somewhat. The polished stone beneath made their selves known the more he advance.

He had been walking for a while now. The place was actually bigger than he expected. Most of the path had been blocked by cave in, but the rest were still open. Some path had lead him to a large hall, a garden, and a large pool resembling the room he started out in. He had made sign on the wall he had traversed so he wasn't afraid about going in circle.

Jaune sat down as he made another sign on the wall. The path ahead was opened, but he opted to rest for a while before continuing on his way. He leaned on the wall and pat his stomach. They had been grumbling since some time ago, but he had ignored them.

He hadn't found anything edible in this place. He had been expecting some fruits or vegetables to grow, but there were none. He had heard that some tree sap was supposedly edible, but knowing his luck he would probably be allergic to it or something.

No matter, human could last for 3 weeks without food supposedly. He wasn't eager to test this theory, but the situation left him no choice. He just had to look for the way out to the surface and looked for food there.

Resolving on his next action, Jaune stood up and walked again, heading for the unexplored part of the ruin. Yet he paused as some small pebble and dust fell from above. He could feel a large tremor running through the place.

"An earthquake?" No something felt different. There were distant sound of something pounding against the ceiling.

A small sized part of the ceiling fell down and would have crushed his head if he were too late on dodging it. He looked up in bewilderment at the gap formed on the ceiling above.

Jaune stared in horror as a white mask appeared from the breach. His body moved on instinct and took off running straight away. Not long after, the ceiling finally gave in and collapsed.

Cloud of dust rose as the Grimms fell along with the debris. Some of them were crushed by the rubble or their fellow Grimm, but with their large number, even that lose was miniscule. Jaune didn't have the time to count their number one by one, but he was positive they numbered in the thirties at the very least.

No way! How persistent could they be!? Had they been searching for him all this time!? Even when he escaped from their view!? This was ridiculous!

Jaune cursed on his mind and sprint to the nearest corridor. He forced his circuit to work and reinforced his body once more.

Suddenly, he felt something passed by above him in great speed. Soon after that, a Grimm exploded into dark smoke in the corridor ahead.

"What the hell!?"

When he looked back, the sight that entered his vision left him in shock.

"Oh, come on! Are you kidding me!?"

The largest Grimm pursuing him, a Grimm resembling a gorilla, a Beringel, was holding another Grimm in its hand. It lifted the Grimm, a Beowulf, and in a terrifying show of strength, threw it like a baseball toward Jaune.

Jaune ducked in panic and saw as the living projectile flew through the air and hit the corridor wall in front of him. It left a crater on the wall before dissipating into a black smoke.

This was insane! The Beringel, seemingly indifferent to the demise of its fellow monster, continued on its ploy as it lifted another one of the smaller Grimm. None of the Grimm was bothered by the Beringel outrageous move. Even the Grimm in its hand didn't struggled and obediently stayed still as the Beringel used it as a cannon ball.

That was the clincher. This Beringel was definitely an [Elder Grimm]

Grimm wasn't a major threat once the old human managed to make contract with the Heroic Spirit. They were monster that moved only on animal like instinct and thus easily dispatched by the effort of the military and the Protégé.

However, in rare case, some of them managed to live long enough. These Grimms then evolved and gained intelligence. The evolved Grimm was then called [Elder Grimm]. They were stronger, smarter, and some even had authority on lesser Grimm.

The Beringel doing the crazy stunt behind him was an Elder Grimm. That explained a lot. Jaune didn't know how far underground he exactly was, but to dig down the place just to reach him was an overkill. No normal Grimm would bother to do such task, but things changed when an Elder Grimm was present. That thing might have gathered all the Grimm in the forest and commanded them to work.

Jaune witnessed as another Grimm became a splat on the intersection ahead of him. This was bad. The distance between him and the Grimms didn't matter that much when they could shot him down from range.

Jaune last turn led him down to a corridor made of polished marble. The path was distinctively more ornate than the other path he had traversed, but Jaune barely noticed it in his current situation. The thing he was concerned about was the stampede behind him and the huge door ahead of him.

Jaune stopped right in front of it, not willing to risk running into the obstacle in his current speed.

Standing around 14 feet in height, the double door was made out of obsidian. Their black luster stood out from the polished marble of the outer arch surrounding it. The door surface was decorated with elaborate carving that Jaune couldn't make sense of, but the one on the arch was obvious enough.

It was a picture of birds in various position. Some were perching and some were flying. Despite the various pose the birds took, all of them were the same kind. Judging from the shape and the white of the marble they were carved on, it was a depiction of doves.

Jaune placed his hand on one of the doors and pushed on it. The door was quite heavy even with the reinforcement strengthening his arms, but Jaune persistently strained his arms to open it.

Before he could open the door however, a sudden whistling sound coming from behind prompted Jaune to turn his attention away. A black mass was speeding in the air toward him.

"What-!?"

He was careless. That Beringel had launched another Grimm when he was preoccupied with opening the door.

Jaune managed to bring his guard up right before the Grimm collided with his upper body. His arm cracked from the projectile and the resulting impact sent him flying backward. The double door must had opened from hitting the Grimm as well, since nothing stopped his motion.

His body hit the floor like a rag doll, rolling a few times before completely stopping. He let out coughs and gasps of pain as the air left his body from the crash.

It was painful. His arms wasn't broken due to the reinforcement, but the sheer impact would leave a nasty bruising without doubt. He was also disoriented from the brain being shook around inside his skull.

Jaune forced himself on his feet and in unsteady gait began to walk away from the coming Grimm.

The room he ended up in was a large circular chamber with high ceiling. The room were made with a mix of metal, stone and marbles. Large tapestry hanged down from the walls in a fix interval around the chamber. A red carpet paved the way from the door to the center of the room. There, a throne stood tall above elevated platform supported by obsidian framework.

Jaune trudged across the carpet, dragging his body toward the center. Losing to pain and the dizziness, he stumbled and fell in front of the stairs leading to the throne.

He had been surveying the room, searching for a way out, but there were none. This was a closed space with the door he went in as the only entrance. There were no way out. His luck had finally run out.

The Grimms had entered the room in droves. The Beringel was easily noticeable from its hulking figure even amidst the Grimm crowding the entrance.

It made its way toward Jaune while the other Grimm circled around the room. They were making sure that he wouldn't be able to escape, it seemed. Well jokes on them, he couldn't even walk straight, escaping with his condition was an impossibility.

"…M,move I need to move-!"

He need to dodge its attack no matter what. Jaune tried to move, but his body didn't listen to him. His vision was spinning. Did he have a concussion? Should he try to heal it?

No, there wasn't enough time. The Beringel had arrived in front of him. It raised its arm in preparation to attack. It was going to hammer him into the ground. No amount of reinforcement were going to save him from the incoming strike.

He was going to die.

Dammit! After all that effort and in the end he was going to die like this!? Without accomplishing anything!? Don't joke around! Just because of this damned monster!

Jaune glared at the Beringel in defiance. If there was nothing else that could be done, then at least he wouldn't cower under its threat. He raised his voice and screamed as the blow descended.

"-Damn you!"

…

…

…

"Huh?"

The blow never came.

Jaune stared in confusion as the Beringal fist hovered in the air, blocked by a magic circle that manifested out of nowhere.

"What the-"

His confusion was mirrored by the Beringel who took a step back and stared at the magic circle. It seemed startled by the sudden intrusion, but gathered itself once more and prepared another strike in a second.

It never got the chance to deliver the blow.

From the magic circle, numerous chain came out and shot toward the giant Grimm. The chain ran across it arms, coiling around like snake. In an instant, the Beringel entire body was shackled by the chain. The chain moved down and brought the Grimm with it, chaining it to the floor.

Right after that, as if on cue, all around the room, magic circle appeared out of thin air and surrounded the Grimms.

With the sound of chinking metals, chains materialized from the magic formation. They flew through the air in high speed and entangled all of the Grimm in the room. Some of the Grimms tried to dodge them, but none of them managed to outmaneuver the living chain.

In a single moment, all of the Grimm was subdued. Their limbs was detained by the chain. Some of them was suspended in the air while the rest was nailed to the ground. They all struggled against their bonds, but none of them showed any sign of succeeding in their endeavor.

Jaune was so shocked by the occurrence. All of it happened in a flash. He had no time to react to it. Luckily, none of the chain targeted him. He glanced around to find the conjurer of this chain, but he found no one.

Unbeknownst to Jaune, there was actually another person in this room. They were already here even before Jaune had entered the room. No, calling them a person would be a mistake.

They had went beyond what a human was capable of.

"Hmm, what do we have here?" The being materialized on top the throne and in amused tone began to speak. "A boy and group of imitation beasts from the God of Darkness. What a surprise. It has been quite a while since the last time someone take a step inside my garden."

Jaune moved his gaze atop the throne. There, sitting on it with a relaxed gait was a single woman.

She was the most beautiful woman Jaune ever saw.

Her long hair was dark in color, contrasting to her pale skin. Long midnight dress with black feathers decoration adorned her perfect body. She was overflowing with mature charm even by sitting there doing nothing. A peerless untouchable beauty.

"Now then boy, would you try to amuse me? Do you not have any news to tell? A zesty tale of an adventure, perhaps? I will even settle for a simple jest." She gave him a little smile. That simple gesture brought out her charm even more. "Please do so. After centuries of no interaction, I yearn to hear the voices of others quite a bit."

Jaune was at lost for words. The woman in his sight wasn't a human. She was an existence that he had only read about. The being that he had chased and looked up to his whole life.

An individual of great renown. A being with power so great that no human could ever come close. A legend incarnate.

She was without a doubt a Heroic Spirit.

"Boy, I know that you are able to speak." Jaune pulled himself out from his reverie. He gave a little nod to the woman, not believing that a proper word would come out from his mouth at the moment.

"I give you my permission. Now, speak."

"…Help me."

"Hmm?"

"Please help me! Lady Heroic Spirit! I beg of you please help me!" Jaune all but begged. All the fear and pressure had made him desperate. His composure had disappeared after the Heroic Spirit appeared. She was a hero. She would help him for sure.

"I, I was separated from my family, somehow. A-and I was chased by the Grimm and end up here! You have to help me! Please!"

The woman raised an eyebrow at his pleading, but her smile was never changing. She waited for a moment as if expecting something and then leveled an inquisitive look at him.

"Oh? Have I not told you to amuse me? Is there a clever joke hidden somewhere within your statement? Perhaps my sense of humor has not caught up to the current time."

"I-I am serious. This isn't a joke!"

"Now that is a shame. A good laugh will be most welcome after so long with no comedy." She let out a disappointed sigh. "Well, no matter. I have given you the right to speak. It is only fair for you to use it as you wish it."

"Rejoice oh troubled youth, for I am feeling quite generous at the moment." She raised her arm and conjured a magic circle directly beneath Jaune.

Jaune felt foreign sensation all over as the circle beneath him move upward along his body. It was as if something raced all over his organs before settling down in the back of his hand. When the warm feeling fade, Jaune let out a gasp and looked at the symbol appearing on his hand.

The proof of being a chosen individual, the dearest wish of his family, a [Crest], had appeared on him.

Jaune couldn't believe it. The Heroic Spirit in front of him had granted him something so valuable that easily. There was no lengthy ritual and there was nothing but a mild discomfort from his side. It just happened like that.

Jaune knew that he should be elated, but with how fast and sudden it happened, he couldn't help but just stared in shock as he tried to make sense of his feelings. He looked at the Heroic Spirit with a dumbstruck expression.

His expression must have been quite novel since the woman let out a chuckle. She raised her arm once more and another magic circle appeared. It hovered right in front of him and from it, a goblet appeared.

He took ahold of it and looked at the content. Wine, he noticed. He had stolen a sip from his father glass last Christmas and had hated the taste. He couldn't understand how adult could drink something so nasty and still enjoyed it.

He moved the goblet around idly. The red alcoholic liquid swirled along with his experimental movement.

"Drink from the chalice, boy. I shall forge a contract with you." Jaune gulped and felt his mouth dried up. He moved his gaze away from the chalice to his soon-to-be Patron.

That was right. His Patron. He would be her Protégé. Once he forged a contract with her, no one would looked at the Arc family in disdain again. He would come home proudly, telling his adventure and tribulation as he become the first Arc that managed to become a Protégé after the Saint abandoned them.

"You shall not want for more. You shall not fear for the morrow. Your very salvation is at hand." He could hear the sweet whisper of his benefactor as if she was standing beside him. "Come now. Reach for it. Drink it. Savor it."

"Y-yes!"

Jaune raised the goblet to his mouth, eager to make his wish come true.

Yet as the goblet was about to touch his lips, he stopped his hand. Something wasn't right.

"Boy, is there something the matter?"

That's right. What's the matter? Why did he stop? Because he didn't like the taste of wine? He wasn't a child. He knew that he could force himself to drink it if he wanted.

Then why? Why did he harbor doubt?

Jaune moved his sight to the Heroic Spirit once more. She was peering at him, observing him with rapt attention. As Jaune met her eyes, he felt an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her gaze somehow felt familiar to Jaune. Where had he seen it?

The image of children playing in the park surfaced on his mind. The boys from his class, including him was observing something quite unique. What was it?

Getting unsure, Jaune took a deep breath and thought to himself. _What had happened back there?_ As he was lost in thought, his eyes naturally wonder around the room. After a moment, he settled his sight on the nearest Grimm.

Jaune took a step and approached it. The Beringel that led the herd of Grimm snarled at Jaune and struggled intensely against its binding.

Jaune ignored its unspoken threats and stared at it. Weirdly, what entered his eye was not the monstrosity that had almost killed him.

No the thing in front of him was… an anthill.

Jaune finally remembered the memory with clarity. Around the time when he was 9, he and his friend had found a large anthill in the park of Domrémy. They had observed it in wonder, looking as line of ants made their way in and out of the hill top. They were content with just looking, but after a while it had become boring.

So what did they do after that?

He had excitedly devised a new play then. He ran to grab his thermos, fully aware of the hot liquid inside.

**The past him had held out the thermos on top of the anthill.**

Jaune held out the chalice on top of the Beringel.

The past and current him overlapped and pour their respective container together.

**The 9 years old Jaune stared in awe as the ants drown inside their own nest. His heart was filled with a weird sense of glee.**

The current him stood shell-shocked as the Beringel melt from the wine making contact with its body. His heart filled with terror at the sight of the hulking Grimm twisting its body in agony.

"You are a rude one, are you not?" Jaune turned his attention back to the woman. She was watching him with a sneer. "Even though I have given you the answer to all of your problem, you decided to throw it away."

He finally realized the weird sense of dejavu he got from the Heroic Spirit expression. Her visage was a striking resemblance to his friends' expression as they saw the ants died from their childish game.

It was elation born from performing unchallenged cruelty.

Jaune shuddered at the realization and let go of the chalice. It clattered to the floor beside him, spilling the rest of its content to the melting Beringel. With a final roar of pain, it faded away into black smoke.

"…You were going to kill me." The chalice was filled with poison. If he had drink that, his digestive track would had melt out into an unidentifiable goo. "Right from the very start you have no intention to save me!"

"That wine will save you." She answered in a leveled tone. No shred of guilt could be traced from it. "Is that not what you want? A contract with a Heroic Spirit? I have full intention to give you the honor of being a Protégé if you had drank it."

"I would have died from it!"

"Do you consider your life worth something? It is cheap, boy. With all thing considered, should you not shower me with gratitude? Since not everyone could have the luxury to taste their long-life dream before their time comes, Jaune Arc."

"-YOU!" Jaune charged at the black haired woman. He ran up the stairs leading to the throne with reinforced legs, fully intending to attack the Heroic spirit.

Alas the outcome was clear from the get go. Not even the strongest magus could possibly win against a Heroic Spirit. So what chance did a child like him have against her?

Before he could reach halfway to her, another chain had shoot up and captured him from behind. He was pushed downward and chained to the floor. Jaune tried to struggle against his restrain, but his movement was completely sealed.

He could only lay still and glare at the evil hero. The vile woman expression was twisted in a mix of delight and cruelty. _This is her real expression_, Jaune realized. This was the visage of a woman who was used to witness the suffering of others and derived great joy from it.

"Fuhahaha! How weak, how brittle. It has been quite so long since I witness the misery that is human life." She laughed at him, completely ignoring the abundant hostility pointed toward her. "You are all the same. You crave for things that you could never hold. You struggle to take what isn't yours. And in the end you all wither in unsightly manner."

She let out another chuckle and looked beyond him. Jaune knew the reason. The Grimm was getting agitated. They must be responding to the anger he harbored toward the woman. They growled and fervently tried to break free of their restrain.

"Ah I forget about you beasts." The woman expression turned sour. Her tone was filled with disdain, no shred of amusement that he pointed to Jaune was present. "You mindless fragment of a God, is staying silent a much difficult task for you?"

As if getting sick at their very existence, the woman turned away from the Grimms. Without any gesture or sign from her, countless magic circle surfaced from around the throne room.

"Your very existence bring me displeasure. Be gone from my sight you filthy creature."

Laser made from pure ether shoot toward the Grimm and pulverized them in a single stroke. Jaune closed his eyes from the bright light and when he opened them back, both the magic circles and the Grimms had already gone without a trace.

"Now then, what should I do with you?" The chain binding Jaune moved and dragged him right in front of the woman feet. "Intruding on my domain is a grave offense. Not only that, you even lead those beast to my throne room. Your life alone will not be adequate as retribution."

"Then again, you do manage to amuse me." She laughed mockingly at him. "Fear and awe have been the standard, but for a mere youth with nothing to his name to display animosity towards me? To foolishly charge toward a Hero of Legend? This would be the very first time."

"Let me tell you something, boy. Your time almost run out. There will be no chances for you to realize your dream after this."

Time? She was definitely referring to his upcoming birthday. Last he remembered, his birthday should still be a week from now. His time was going to run out. He became aware of that fact again.

"That seal in your hand is not a counterfeit." Jaune widened his eyes at that statement. The Crest at his hand was real… Wasn't this nothing but a part of her scheme to fool him!? It was real!? No way!

His expression must be pretty telling since the woman scoffed and shot him an exasperated look.

"It was nothing but a whim of mine, but you are chosen, boy. You are one step closer to your dearest wish. I shall be generous and let you choose the path you are going to take."

The chain moved once more. This time forcing him to get up on his knees. The woman was still sitting on the throne even as he glared at her.

"These are your options. Choose to die here, and I shall deliver you a painless death, a peaceful sleep. I vow by my True Name that I shall not let you suffer as you welcome your end."

"Choose to make a contract with me and you shall be lifted among your peers. My power is more than plenty to give you a taste of glory, to let you take everything you desire." She let out her trademark cruel expression at this. "But in the end, at the peak of your journey, no perhaps even before that, you will meet your demise."

"You will die as you fulfill your desire. You will suffer as you taste the greatest victory. You will face your doom as you gaze into the future. You will regret it. Every choice, every path, every decision. You shall curse your own fate as you meet your end."

She spoke in glee contrasting to the grim end she promised in her speech. She didn't even try to hide her expectation for him. To her, the only befitting end for him was a dog death, and when he reached that point, this woman would savor it as the greatest delicacy.

"Now which path will you choose, Jaune Arc?" She reached out to him, caressing his cheek. Her tone was gentle yet the glint in her eyes was anything but.

A peaceful death and a cruel humiliating death. Her offers were both poison. There were no safe choice. Even if he became a Protégé, she obviously had no intention to grant him any assistance. He would die once his life is in danger.

But so what? Peaceful death? Unsightly death? Both were the same thing. Death had no distinction of being peaceful or not. Corpses had no capacity to worry about such thing. The choice was obvious.

He gritted his teeth and snarl at the woman.

"Choice? What choice!? As long as you live you can still fight on! There is not a single hero that will quietly accept his fate! …You say that I will regret it? Just bring it!"

"You fancy yourself a hero? You are delusional. You are nothing but an insignificant child. As long as you live you would suffer. Rest assured, however, as I will be right there beside you as you fall headfirst into the pit."

"Speak your oath, boy. Utter my True Name, do keep in mind that I have no tolerance for fools that do not recognize my greatness." Her tone turn commanding as she hand him the order.

Being a famed hero meant that the populace would be well aware of your legend. Both the Hero's strength and weakness could be found out as long as their True Name was known. Such information could affect the tide of a battle in an instant. That was the reason why Heroic Spirit rarely declared their own name.

Normally the Patron would tell their True Name as a proof of trust, yet this woman so arrogantly trampled on that practice. Was this a test? Or was it simply her arrogance?

_It didn't matter_, Jaune decided. He didn't need her to tell him. He already knew it.

This Heroic Spirit [True Name] was clear to Jaune. The [Garden], the [Dove] and the [Poison] were enough clues. Only one hero allude to all three of them.

He began to chant the spell for the contract ritual.

"_Hear my vow oh my Patron! Oh First Poisoner! Oh Wise Queen! _[_Semiramis_]_!"_

That's right. She was [Semiramis].

She was a queen from ancient civilization. A demigod born from a goddess and a mortal man. She was abandoned as a baby and only survived from the assistance of the [Doves]. When she was older, she managed to steal the throne from her husband by killing him with [Poison]. Her legend continued as people prosper under her rule. In one of them, she was said to build a giant [Garden] as a proof of the riches during her reign.

"_I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead! This is my oath! I shall never regret it! Not my choice! Not my action! Not the consequences! I shall never regret any of it!"_

"Magnificent! To not regret!? Fool, you will despair as your power fade from your hesitation! Your demise will be a sight to see, Jaune Arc!" The ancient queen raised her voice in delight and reached out to him. She cradled his cheek gently, even as her nail pierced it and drew blood.

"_I am Semiramis, Queen of Assyria. My vessel is Assassin. I accept your oath. So long as you not regret your choices, I shall stand tall as your guardian! Witness as my power become the blade that will shape your fate!"_

Jaune circuit rapidly went overdrive as it generate more Od. The mana inside the room ran amok. The light of magical energy filled the room, and in an instant Jaune consciousness vanished as the light painted his vision white.

When the light fades, the only one left in the throne room was him alone. Be it his newly contracted Patron or the chain that bound him, none of them remained. His pulsing red Crest was the only proof that everything was not a dream.

"And with that the contract is set. Do remember not to bore me." A voice filled with amusement echoed inside his mind as Jaune closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. "My dear little Protégé."

* * *

_Author notes:_

_Well there you go, the moment when Jaune become a protege. _

_Why did I pick Semiramis? No it's not because I'm her fan. If I picked my favorite servant, Jaune would end up with Shuten Douji as his partner. _

_Well, my previous story idea was about Jaune having a class card of 7 evil heroic spirits in the normal Remnant. Saber alter, Moriarty, Vlad II, Medb, Semiramis, Shuten Douji and Hijikata. Understandably he became quite an OP bastard, curb stomping every single one of his enemies._

_So deciding on a story that would even up the playing field, Myth of Remnant was born. My first thought was "How to screw Jaune so badly that even if he had an OP servant he would still struggle against everyone else." _

_MoR Jaune is compatible with Knights or Saints or even Proper Heroes, so I picked Semiramis instead. She was the one who had the least affinity to Jaune in term of personality and way of fighting. While she was powerful, she was also the one with most restriction on her abilities._

_And for those who would complain, remember: At least it ain't Stheno._


End file.
